Could I get a group hug please? Paddy is hooking up his travel trailer, loading his tools and heading to Spokane tomorrow for a pipe welding job on a new sewer plant. He's working a 6/12 schedule. That's 6 12 hour shifts per 7 day week. So the only days off he has between now and the 20th of December will be Sunday's and Thanksgiving Day. I'm going to really miss him!
Paddy loves welding and burning almost as much as he loves driving. Still the seperation is going to be hard. It always is, it doesn't ever get easier. At least they're paying him a decent rate this time. I got so mad at the last job he worked, they cheaped out and only paid him $59.00/hour for a 5/10 schedule! As skilled as he is he deserves a fair amount of compensation!
Oh well, he won't be working at all during Christmas to New Years. He's not even putting his name on the out of work list after this one until the second week in January. Hopefully his back will hold out and he'll stay safe. 3 boilermakers died in New York last week from falls. Could I get some happy thoughts sent our way please?
Julie

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If man wasn't meant to have triple digit trucks God wouldn't have invented Cat engines.

awww i hope everythin goes ok w/yall. Seperation is sooo hard, i had to go for a month almost w/out seeing my boyfriend. He was a mover for a company and was working in Penn, Fl after the hurricane hit, they were packing condos and was working long hours. Anyways i was going to college at the time and was missing him when i was in college and he was back home, yeah it was only 30 miles away from home, but i had a dorm room. Anyways, while he was gone in Fl, i cryed EVERYDAY until he came back, everythin i thought of brought memories to my head. One day my roommate asked me if i was "ok" and if i wanted to talk to our floor girl...lol. I said ill be fine.

Big hugs to ya Julie, hang in there..we are all here to keep ya up and happy.....my hubby leaves tomorrow...another "hide the tears til hes gone" morning for me.....lets suffer this together...LOL it never gets easier but the home coming always get BETTER.

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LuvMyHubby
PROUD Mom of an enlisted man currently in Iraq
"The Truckers Report..helping newbies avoid the shams and scams, providing support for driver families and just a GREAT place to hang out,laugh and learn!"

I tell you what, we've been married since 1979 and it's hard when he goes away. It never gets any easier. I think I love him more and more each passing day. For a long time we drove team, but once we started having kids I had to take more and more time off the truck. Then he started this new job and he'd be gone for 1, 2 or 3 months at a time. Working construction all over the country, once he went to Russia for 4 months. I hate it, but it's a necessary evil. Only 5 more years til he gets his pension. Then we're staying put. I'll chain him to the porch if I have to. He can run his dump truck, but local only. Period!
I'm trying to get pregnant again, which is difficult when he's gone. The kids miss him a lot. It's just bad. At least he's within driving distance and can leave the job site 6pm Saturday and be back 6am Monday. When he worked a job in Detroit he flew home a few times, but that was a huge hassle.
Well let's all say a collective prayer for all our husbands and boyfriends that are going to be away from home. The older I get the more I despise going to bed alone and waking up alone. That's one of the best (and sometimes worst) things about driving team. He's just a few feet away all the time.
Julie

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If man wasn't meant to have triple digit trucks God wouldn't have invented Cat engines.

I remember all the times when my bf had to go outa town for them moving jobs he had. I cryed everytime he left, but when he got back i swear i love him even more then when he left. I thought for the longest time that i felt like a lil baby when i cryed when he had to leave. I remember this one, we are running a freekin paper route and its a fri, i dont go w/him on fri's because we have ALOT of papers and i dont wanna crowd the car, plus im w/him the other 4 days outta the week 8 hours a day riding in the car w/him anyways, plus when ever we get home, cause we live together...so i let him go by himself so we wont always be together. Well this particular fri i was tired, i told him i didnt wanna go, and i kept askin him if he didnt mind. He told me over and over again in the sweetest voice "baby its up to you!!" i said i know...but kept askin him. Well he had to go and i wansnt outa bed...so i stayed, but i walked him out the door and watched him get in the car, at that time i had to let our dogs outside...so at that sec i opened the door just to hear my mustang turn the corner 1 street away...at that sec...i busted out crying cause i had this bad feeling that somethin might happen w/him, and wanted to go so i didnt feel bad..i had my cell in my hand and was sec's away from callin him and tellin him to come get me...but i didnt and let him go to work w/out me. This is all at 2:30 a.m., so he calls me when he gets to where we have to get the papers and hes like, "you ok" and i told him and hes like "i knew somethin like this was gonna happen, and hes like well why didnt you call me?" I told him "no, that it was all fine". My emotions were messed up that day...freekin monthly period.

He rolled out early this morning. Is the saddest sound in the world a diesel engine fading away in the distance and the happiest one pulling into your driveway?
I'm going to try to keep busy today. The kids are in school, except for Gina, our two year old. So we're going to go to Pikes Place to do some grocery shopping. We're getting some fresh sea food, then going to the organic produce market for fruits and veggies, the baker for fresh bread, then the butcher for luncheon meats and a roast. In the afternoon Gina and I will fire up the Peterbilt and run a few loads for a demo company. This Saturday I think we'll all pile into the van and head over to Bremerton for shopping and lunch. There's some nice antique/junk shops if you know where to look to kill the time. Then Saturday night he'll be home again! Then Monday morning he'll be gone again.
How are the rest of you holding up?
Julie

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If man wasn't meant to have triple digit trucks God wouldn't have invented Cat engines.

Hubby left this morning, and of course I had to get busy, hung new curtains in the office, and bathroom, bleached the groom room, washed the rugs and mopped the floor in the entry way, did all the laundry.....now I am taking a break and then off to hit the firdge...and put out trash....busy hands keep the mind occupied and thats how I get thru the first few days.

The nights are the worse! I must admit.

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LuvMyHubby
PROUD Mom of an enlisted man currently in Iraq
"The Truckers Report..helping newbies avoid the shams and scams, providing support for driver families and just a GREAT place to hang out,laugh and learn!"

Julia! Anytime you need a hug just let me know....I love to give them!

This is my hubby's long week and will not see him till Sunday. Then he goes right back out on Monday.

But thankfully he will be on vacation the week of Thanksgiving!
He has alot to do that week getting ready for his family to come for dinner.
I do the cooking and he does the cleaning!

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I totally agree, nights are the absolute worst. That big empty bed makes me sad. Yes, Cybergal, I'll take that hug, make it a big one.

Ona side note I'm trying to do a little home improvement while he's gone. Right now our Peterbilt is parked next to our detached garage. In the driveway is our shuttle van (yes, we bought a used airport shuttle van for when we all want to go somewhere together ) my 7 passenger van, his dually, and our sons truck. Well we're getting more and more kids driving in the next few years sooo.... Heres my plan, put a second driveway on the west side of the house, refence the backyard to make it smaller, and have a concrete pad poured out back for the Peterbilt and our shuttle van. It will also need to hold his new truck he buys next year until our son moves out. As it stands now we have to move every car out of the driveway to get the Peterbilt next to the garage. We're not allowed to park in the street. I'm going to try to get this done in one week when he's gone, as a surprise. Next week I get to wrangle with King County for the permits. If I can get it all approved then I think I'll do it. What do you girls think?
Julie

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If man wasn't meant to have triple digit trucks God wouldn't have invented Cat engines.

I say if ya can...go for it. It would be a nice thing to come home to.